DNA, video led to arrest in French soldier attack

French State prosecutor Francois Molins during a news conference at the Court in Paris, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Molins said that the young suspect accused of stabbing a French soldier Saturday May 25, identified only by his first name Alexandre, was captured on camera offering a Muslim prayer in a corner of a busy shopping mall 10 minutes before he went after the soldier with a knife in the La Defense financial and shopping district. The 22 year old suspect was arrested outside Paris at the house of a friend, who has not been implicated. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Photo: Thibault Camus, STR

PARIS - DNA traces on an orange juice bottle and a surveillance video of a man praying in a mall led to the arrest Wednesday of a young suspected Islamic extremist accused of stabbing a French soldier patrolling a crowded area just outside Paris, officials said.

The attack came days after a British soldier was slain on a London street in broad daylight, raising fears of potential copycat attacks.

The case also brought into question what authorities knew about the suspect, identified by police as Alexandre Dhaussy, because he had been tracked over several years.

France has been on heightened security alert since its military intervention in January in the west African nation of Mali to oust Islamic radicals.

The French soldier attacked on Saturday is recovering from his injuries and has been released from the hospital.

The suspect was captured on camera offering a Muslim prayer in a corner of a busy shopping mall 10 minutes before he went after the soldier Saturday at the La Defense financial and shopping district, French prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday at a news conference in Paris.

The 22-year-old Frenchman bought the juice and the pocketknife used in the attack an hour beforehand, Molins said.

"The intent to kill is obvious. The suspect doesn't hesitate to stab several times with impressive determination," Molins said.

The suspect was arrested Wednesday morning outside Paris at the house of a friend who hasn't been implicated.

"The nature of the attack, the fact that it happened three days after the London attack and a prayer that was carried shortly before the attack make us believe that he acted in the name of his religious ideology and that his wish was to attack someone representing the state. "